PRIME Minister Gordon Brown has vowed to the Coventry Telegraph that he will do all he can to prevent over-censorship of MPs’ expenses.

He and Harriet Harman MP, Leader of the House of Commons, have said the Commons must not break the law by deleting too much from MPs’ expenses files before they are published.

They were responding to our exclusive revelations that the House of Commons plans to heavily edit expenses files of all MPs before publication, which would mean many details being kept from the voters.

We asked Mr Brown, Ms Harman and Conservative leader David Cameron, what their views were on the Commons plans.

Leading barrister Hugh Tomlinson QC has told us that the proposed heavy editing would breach court orders he obtained under Freedom of Information laws. The High Court ruled that only a limited amount of information be removed, such as bank details, names and addresses.

But our investigation has revealed that the Commons is proposing to remove much more material which in some cases, provide the only evidence of wrong or questionable claims.

Mr Brown would not say whether such heavy censorship would be legal. But he added: “I fully understand the public’s concerns and anger regarding MPs’s expenses.

“Whilst the matters you raise are for the House of Commons authorities who are required by law to comply with the Freedom of Information Act, I want Coventry Telegraph readers to know I am determined to make the system as transparent and accountable as possible and am working hard to make this happen quickly.”

Mr Brown also outlined for us his plans to clean up MPs’ expenses, widen Freedom of Information throughout the public sector, and to consider other reforms designed to make politicians more accountable.

We asked Ms Harman to comment on the legality or otherwise of the proposed deletions from MPs’ expenses files.

She is a member of the Commons committee which made the proposal.

She said: “This is a matter for the House authorities, which are the holders of the data. There is a legal requirement on them to comply with the Freedom of Information Act and the Data Protection Act in the light of the High Court ruling and on legal advice they receive.

“Specific issues of redaction (editing) in the official release of information are for the House of Commons Commission.”

Conservative Alan Duncan, as shadow Leader of the House, also sits on the committee.

Mr Cameron’s team referred us to him for a Conservative response. Mr Duncan said: "We understand that the House of Commons is fully implementing the Court judgement, and has taken legal advice to make sure that it does.

"Any attempt to publish less than the Court has ordered would be totally unacceptable.

"The important thing now is that the House of Commons should get on and publish this material as rapidly as possible and that there is no further delay.”

Gordon Brown's statement in full

“I fully understand the public’s concerns and anger regarding MPs’ expenses and, whilst the matters you raise are for the House of Commons authorities who are required by law to comply with the Freedom of Information Act, I want Coventry Telegraph readers to know I am determined to make the system as a transparent and accountable as possible and am working hard to make this happen quickly.

“We recognise the need to make power more answerable to the people who elect MPs and to open up areas of public life. That is why we are looking at setting up a new Parliamentary Standards Authority which will supervise, independently, all matters relating to MPs’ pay and expenses, as well as a new Code of Conduct for MPs.”

“I believe that the breakdown in trust in the political process is equivalent to the breakdown in trust in financial markets.

So, as we acted during the financial crisis, we are now taking action and creating a National Democratic Renewal Council. Just as the National Economic Council focused Government on the economic situation, this Council will push forward reforms of the political system and make the necessary changes happen as swiftly as possible.

“Furthermore, today Cabinet has agreed to go further and open up wider issues of constitutional reform such as the House of Lords and the voting system, extending FOI and modernising Parliament.

“We also want to create a new means to open up debate and involve individuals outside of Government to engage the public on key reform. The new National Democratic Renewal Council will lead the way in this and feed discussions back to Government as part of a constructive conversation on far reaching reform.

“We must restore faith and trust in politicians and our democratic system and we are urgently driving this forward.”